What Is The Best Way To Write A Persuasive Essay

If you are totally new to writing persuasive essays, then you could be forgiven for wondering just what on earth you have let yourself in for! Essays in high school were never this difficult, right? Wrong. Anything new is difficult, and chances are you have just blocked out the earlier experience! The structure is the key word in academia. The sooner you realize that everything that you will ever be tasked with doing requires you to adhere to a certain format then the easier you will find your studies.

Think of yourself as a modern day code breaker.

Still think that I am talking gobbledygook? Okay, before I share my top tips it is important that you are crystal clear on what a persuasive essay is:

What is a persuasive essay?

In its simplest form, this is your chance to outline in a clear and logical manner why your opinion on a certain subject carries more weight than an opposing argument. It is your job to persuade the reader that your take on the topic is more valid then anything anyone else might say.

This might seem like common-sense. However, you would be amazed at how many people just seem to think that they can wing this. They have an idea in their head as to what they believe, but they haven’t fully thought it through. This results in a chaotic, disorderly, jumbled mess.

Understand the opposition

In addition to fully formulating your own viewpoint, you also need to have a damned good working knowledge of the other side of the coin. Think this is unnecessary? Just how are you going to convince your reader that you are right if you have no idea as to what the counter-arguments are?

Write an outline or abstract

I can hear some of you positively groaning at the thought of all of the preparation that has to go into all of this. However, think of it this way. You want to write the best possible essay right? Well, doing a full outline will help you flesh out your argument, leaving you to simply refine and polish it when it comes to the real deal. This is a great opportunity to iron out any glitches in your argument before they become problematic.

Polish, and Polish again.

Rather than a written assignment, think of this as an actual spoken debate. You need to polish the essay to within an inch of its life so that it is seamless, flawless, and irrefutable.